Medical causes and histological pattern of glomerulonephritis

Glomerulonephritis (GN) is one of the commonest causes of chronic renal failure (CRF) and end stage renal failure (ESRF). The outcome largely depends on the underlying medical cause, clinical findings and histological appearance. 1188 patients were taken in this study. Of these, 980 had primary and 208 secondary GN. Commonest histological types of primary GN were mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (31%) and membranous nephropathy (21%). Among patients with secondary GN, predominant cause was lupus nephritis (76%) followed by poststreptococcal GN (18%). Clinically, nephrotic syndrome was present in 54%, hypertension in 39% and renal failure in 28%. But clinical pictures were variable among different histological types of GN.